Contents

Psychoanawysis differentiated among chiwdren dree main varieties of de sense of entitwement: normaw; infwated; and compromised.[1] A normaw or heawdy sense of entitwement incwuded an expectation of responsiveness from significant oders,[2] a sense of agency, and a sense of one's right to one's own feewings - aww forming positive ewements in sewf-esteem.[3] The infwated sense of entitwement sought speciaw priviweges for de individuaw awone, perhaps to compensate for chiwdhood suffering or narcissistic injury; whiwe de compromised sense invowved an inabiwity to expect de basic rights enjoyed by dose around one.[4]

Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy distinguished in aduwt wife between (edicawwy) earning entitwement in rewationships, drough care and consideration, and a subjective feewing of entitwement de reaw basis for which may be very different.[5] Thus de depressive may have an unjustifiabwy wow sense of entitwement, de manic an exaggeratedwy high one.[6] The gambwer may feew entitwed to expect a big win, to compensate for chiwdhood deprivation; dose who cwamour most woudwy for such reimbursement from fate may in fact unconsciouswy doubt deir entitwement to anyding at aww.[7]

An infwated sense of what is sometimes cawwed psychowogicaw entitwement[8] - unreawistic, exaggerated, or rigidwy hewd - is especiawwy prominent among narcissists. According to de DSM-5, individuaws wif narcissistic personawity disorder (NPD) are wikewy to have a "sense of entitwement to speciaw treatment and to obedience from oders", typicawwy widout commensurate qwawities or accompwishments:[9][10] Simiwarwy, according to Vaknin, de narcissistic personawity attempts to protect de vuwnerabwe sewf by buiwding wayers of grandiosity and a huge sense of entitwement.[11]

Whiwe an earned sense of entitwement is usuawwy seen as more beneficent dan purewy psychowogicaw entitwement, it can awso have a destructive counterpart in de sense of a fewt entitwement to revenge based on de accumuwation of grievances.[12]